Oldenbüttel

The Kiel Canal is the busiest artificial waterway in the world. Every year more ships pass through the canal than the Panama and Suez canals combined. It mostly runs through open countryside and is pretty attractive scenery for the whole 60 miles and is 67metres wide by 9metres deep.
Our first 35 miles on entering the canal from the lock at Brunsbuttel was fairly relaxed even with the large commercial vessels towering so closely alongside which are impressively intimidating. There are plenty of light signals that mostly the larger vessels use to navigate the narrow sections safely and obviously to keep things running smoothly there are ze Rules!;
Your engine must be running at all times but you can sail assist as long as you don't exceed the 6. 5 knot speed limit. Oops! 7.3 knots top speed today.
You are only allowed to navigate during daylight hours.
Given you need to take into account the tidal flows at each end of the canal it makes sense to plan a stop. We tried all 3 options at one of the suggested stopping points at Rendsburg but with only box moorings and with the strong winds it made it too difficult to get moored up so we abandoned that idea and went on to Borgstedt which proved more sheltered and made a very comfortable and peaceful stop ( situated on its own island) .
We made use of the excellent facilities to catch up on some laundry too.
On our evening explore for supper & check out tomorrow's bakery collection, we were shocked to encounter our first hill since leaving the Netherlands. The novelty factor soon wore off after a long walk. 😄.

Surprisingly many places in Germany don't take payment by card from restaurants to marinas. We were advised by the office staff at Borgstedt on arrival that 'if you haven't got ze cash zen you can't stay! '. The lack of harbour masters present in marinas since the islands is a regular occurrence and many marinas have a QR code for paying online now. Sometimes this has had its benefits, but I much prefer to see a friendly face upon arrival to harbour.🙂🇳🇱
Thankfully fellow yachties have been great everywhere we've been, especially given our very limited language skills...Read more